Onuu gets taste of big leagues

The young midfielder is in Auckland with AS Tefana taking part in the 2016 OFC Champions League and made his debut as a substitute in the side’s 7-0 victory over Kiwi FC of Samoa.“I’ve found this competition very difficult. It’s hard for me because I’m young.”But the 16-year-old has plenty of experienced teammates to lean on with the likes of Mikael Roche, Steevy Chong Hue, the Tehau brothers and Angelo Tchen littering the Tefana squad.“It’s really good because they have a lot of experience, and being one of the younger members of the team it’s great to learn from them,” Onuu says.“They give a lot advice and I can learn so much from them.”Although, having already made his youth debut for Tahiti at the OFC U-17 Championship in 2015, Onuu does have a bit of big-game experience of his own.“It was very good, it went well,” he says of the event in American Samoa.“We made the final against New Zealand. We lost on penalties but it was an excellent experience, a great adventure.”The immense sense of pride Onuu gets from representing both club and country is something he is keen to do more of.“I feel incredibly proud everytime I wear the shirt for my club and my country,” he says.“We began training with the U-20 team before coming here. We’re getting ready for the U-20 qualifiers in Vanuatu and I hope we can do as well at this level as we did last year.”